Training apparatus simulating skiing

ABSTRACT

A training apparatus contains a base, a sliding unit, a cranking unit, and a linking unit. The sliding unit contains two connecting strips with treadles at the back ends. A first flexible link and a second flexible link are arranged in parallel and connected to the two connecting strips. The cranking unit contains a wheel supported axially by an end of a crank arm which rotates synchronously with the wheel. The linking unit contains a third flexible link connected between the other end of the crank arm and the front end of one of the connecting strips. By the resilience provided by the third flexible link, the lateral and reciprocal motions of the sliding unit are prevented from getting stuck at the dead spots.

(a) TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to training apparatuses forfitness, and more particularly to a training apparatus providing thesimulation of skiing.

(b) DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART

Skiing machines are a type of training apparatus for exercising themuscles around a user's waist, hip, and legs. FIG. 1 shows such atraining apparatus which is suggested by U.S. Pat. No. 6,849,032. Thetraining apparatus contains a base 10 supporting a vertically erectedframe 11 at an end of the base 10. Two elongated foot supporting means13 are suspended between the frame 11 and the base 10 by two supportingmeans 12 respectively. At a back end of each foot supporting means 13, atreadle 14 is provided. A front end of each foot supporting means 13 isconnected to an end of a crank arm 16 by a rigid link 17. The other endof the crank arm 16 is connected to an axle of a wheel 15. The wheel 15is rotationally engaged by the crank arm 16 which is swung by the footsupporting means 13 via the links 17. The wheel 15 is chained to a flywheel 20 by a belt 25 so as to provide resistance to the rotationalmovement of the wheel 15 for better exercising effect. An upright handle18 is provided on top of the frame 11 which is pivotally connected tothe axle of the wheel 15 by a connecting rod 19 and can be moved fromside-to-side.

Most of the existing skiing machines have a similar mechanism asdescribed above which, by the side-to-side movement of the footsupporting means 13, drives the wheel 15 to spin via the rigid links 17and the crank arm 16. The most significant characteristic of theseskiing machines is that they are engaged in lateral and reciprocalmotions, in contrast to the vertical and rotational motions ofconventional exercise bikes. These lateral and reciprocal motionsinevitably involve dead spots at the two sides as shown in FIG. 2 and,therefore, the two foot supporting means 13 have to be pushed and pulledtogether in overcoming these dead sports.

However, as the foot supporting means 13, the rigid links 17, the crankarm 16, and the wheel 15 are all suspended, some discrepancy among themwill develop after a period of usage. Therefore, during the exercise,the lateral and reciprocal motions might get stuck at the dead spotsfrom time to time, causing unstable and staggering feeling to the user.The smoothness and safety of operating these skiing machines are therebysignificantly impaired.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a training apparatussimulating the skiing which offers smooth and safe operation.

The training apparatus contains a base, a sliding unit, a cranking unit,and a linking unit where the sliding unit engages theresistance-providing cranking unit via the linking unit.

The base has a frame vertically positioned in the front where an uprightrod with a handle at the top end is erected. Two pivots are interposedbetween the bottom edge of the frame and the base.

The sliding unit contains two connecting strips with treadles at theback ends. The two connecting strips are pin-joined to the two pivotsrespectively. A first flexible link and a second flexible link arearranged in parallel and connected to the two connecting strips.

The cranking unit contains a wheel supported axially by an end of acrank arm which rotates synchronously with the wheel.

The linking unit contains a third flexible link connected between theother end of the crank arm and the front end of one of the connectingstrips.

By the resilience provided by the third flexible link, the lateral andreciprocal motions of the sliding unit are prevented from getting stuckat the dead spots.

The foregoing objective and summary provide only a brief introduction tothe present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects ofthe present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detaileddescription of the invention and the claims should be read inconjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specificationand drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similarparts.

Many other advantages and features of the present invention will becomemanifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to thedetailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which apreferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of thepresent invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional skiing machine.

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view showing the lateral motion of theconventional skiing machine of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a training apparatus according toan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a top view showing the training apparatus of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the training apparatus of FIG. 3.

FIG. 6 is a profile view showing the training apparatus of FIG. 3.

FIG. 7 is a top view showing the training apparatus along the 7-7 planeof FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 is a top view showing the training apparatus along the 8-8 planeof FIG. 5.

FIG. 9 is a top view showing the training apparatus along the 9-9 planeof FIG. 5.

FIG. 10 is an enlarged view showing the relationship between the crankarm, the fourth flexible link, and the erective stick of the trainingapparatus of FIG. 3.

FIGS. 11 to 15 are top views showing the training apparatus of FIG. 3under various scenarios during exercise.

FIG. 16 is a top view showing the training apparatus according toanother embodiment along the 7-7 plane of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following descriptions are exemplary embodiments only, and are notintended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of theinvention in any way. Rather, the following description provides aconvenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of theinvention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made inthe function and arrangement of the elements described without departingfrom the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

As shown in FIG. 3, a training apparatus according to an embodiment ofthe present invention contains a base 50, a sliding unit 60, a crankingunit 70, and a linking unit 80. The basic operation principle of themachine is that the sliding unit 60 mounted on the base 50 engages theresistance-offering cranking unit 70 via the linking unit 80.

As also shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the base 50 has an I-like shape with alonger back beam and a shorter front beam arranged substantially inparallel at the two ends of a main beam respectively. A hollow frame 51is erected vertically above the front beam. A rod 52 is in turn erectedvertically from the center of the top edge of the frame 51. A handle 53is then provided at the top end of the rod 52 for a user's holdingduring exercise. Two pivots 55 are positioned between the bottom edge ofthe frame 51 and the front beam of the base 50.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 7˜9, the sliding unit 60 contains two parallelconnecting strips 61 pin-joined to the two pivots 55 respectively in thefront sections of the connecting strips 61. In the back sections of theconnecting strips 61, two treadles 62 are provided respectively forsupporting the feet of the user. A first flexible link 65 and a secondflexible link 66 are arranged in parallel and joined to the twoconnecting strips 61 after and before the pivots 55 respectively. Thefirst and second links 65 and 66 can be steel cables, rubber ropes, orsprings. Steel cables are used in the present embodiment so that theconnecting strips 61 can be swung synchronously from side-to-side. FIG.16 shows another embodiment where a flexible link is replace by tworesilient elements (e.g. springs) connected between the main beam of thebase 50 and the two connecting strips 61 respectively.

The cranking unit 70 contains a plate 71 which is extended towards thefront from the center of the frame 51's bottom edge. A wheel 72 of thecranking unit 70 is laterally supported by its axle which is rotatablyconnected to the front end of the plate 71. Another damping wheel 74 ofthe cranking unit 70 is also laterally supported by its axle inside theframe 51. A belt 73 circles around the rim of the wheel 72 and the axleof the damping wheel 74, thereby linking the two wheels 72 and 74together. A crank arm 75 of the cranking unit 70 is positioned laterallybeneath the plate 71 and has one end fixedly joined to the axle to thewheel 72. When the crank arm 75 is swung to a side, the wheel 72 isrotated by the crank arm 75 and the damping wheel 74 provides resistanceto the wheel 72's rotation so as to enhance the exercising effect.

The linking unit 80 contains a third flexible link 81 (e.g., a rubberrope or a spring) whose two ends are joined to the other end of thecrank arm 75 and the front end of one of the connecting strips 61,respectively. Bearings can be used at the connections. The linking unit80 further contains a fourth flexible link 86 whose two ends areconnected to the other end of the crank arm 75 and an erective stick 85on top of the main beam of the base 50 behind the frame 51, as shown inFIG. 10.

According to the foregoing description, the resilience provided by thethird and fourth flexible links 81 and 86 prevents the lateral andreciprocal motions of the sliding unit 60 from getting stuck at the deadspots.

The operation of the training apparatus is described as follows, alongwith the drawings FIGS. 3 and 11˜15. The user stands on the trainingapparatus with his two feet resting on the treadles 62 of the slidingunit 60 and his two hands holding the handle 63. Then, by twisting thewaist, hip, and legs, the user moves the connecting strips 61 fromside-to-side. Due to the first and second flexible links 65 and 66, theconnecting strips 61 are synchronized. In contrast to the rigid links ofprior art, the present invention is able to allow some discrepancybetween the connecting strips 61 to more conforming to the posture ofthe user during exercise.

When the connecting strips 61 are engaged into side-to-side motions, thecrank arm 75 is rotated through the third flexible link 81. As the crankarm 75 is pushed to the dead spots, the push and pull forces resultedfrom the resilience of the third and fourth flexible links 81 and 86return the crank arm 75 smoothly and effortlessly out of the dead spots.The user therefore will not suffer unstable and staggering feeling andthe smoothness and safety of operating the training apparatus aresignificantly improved.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together may also find a useful application in other types ofmethods differing from the type described above.

While certain novel features of this invention have been shown anddescribed and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intendedto be limited to the details above, since it will be understood thatvarious omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the formsand details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be madeby those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spiritof the present invention.

1. A training apparatus simulating skiing comprising: a base having ahollow frame erected vertically above a front end of said base, a roderected vertically from the top edge of said frame, a handle on the topend of said rod, and two pivots between the bottom edge of said frameand said base; a sliding unit having two parallel connecting stripspin-joined to said two pivots respectively in the front sections of saidconnecting strips, two treadles at the back ends of said connectingstrips respectively, a first flexible link and a second flexible linkarranged in parallel and joined to said connecting strips after andbefore said pivots respectively; a cranking unit having a wheellaterally supported by its axle in front of said frame and a crank armwhose one end is joined to the axle of said wheel so that said crank armrotates synchronously with said wheel; and a linking unit having a thirdflexible link whose two ends are joined to the other end of said crankarm and the front end of one of said connecting strips; wherein, whensaid connecting strips are moved from side-to-side synchronously by saidfirst and second flexible links, said crank arm is rotated through saidthird flexible link; and the resilience of said third flexible linkprevents said crank arm from getting stuck at dead spots.
 2. Thetraining apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first and secondflexible links are selected from the group consisting of steel cables,rubber ropes, and springs.
 3. The training apparatus according to claim1, wherein at least one of said first and second flexible links containsresilient elements provided between said base and said two connectingstrips respectively.
 4. The training apparatus according to claim 1,wherein a damping wheel is engaged by a belt circulating said dampingwheel and said wheel so as to provide resistance to the rotation of saidwheel.
 5. The training apparatus according to claim 1, wherein saidthird flexible link is selected from the group consisting of a rubberrope and a spring.
 6. The training apparatus according to claim 1,wherein the connections of said third flexible link to said crank armand one of said connecting strips are achieved by using bearings.
 7. Thetraining apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a fourth flexible linkhas its two ends connected to the other end of said crank arm and anerective stick on said base respectively.